


Stuck in the Middle

by theoatking



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Friendship, LGBTQ Characters, Trans Character, a little angst cus why not, emotions and junk, just guys being dudes really, kids are mean, low key a jab at ken penders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26312410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoatking/pseuds/theoatking
Summary: Sonic finds out middle names other than ‘danger’ exist and is eager to find one that fits with the help of Tom, Maddie, and his good close friends.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Includes characters I established in a fic that I deleted so if you recognise anyone that’s probably it. I’m going to re-write the old one because I didn’t like how it turned out but the concept was cute)

It was a great day. An absolutely wonderful Friday morning in Green Hills. Sonic felt a million dollars and things were only about to get better since Tom had asked him to grab the mail.  
It was an exciting task. He loved the surprise of it all, not knowing what was inside. It was like Christmas everyday (except Sundays, of course). Tom had tried to explain to Sonic that usually the mail was just bills or insurance or more bills or passive aggressive letters from the bank. Sonic didn’t see why these could not also be exciting.

But day, something threw a real spanner in the works. Something unexpected. New and weird but not necessarily bad.   
Sonic frowned deeply, meticulously assessing a brown envelope he’d pulled out of the box, and dashed inside, eager to alert Tom of the urgent mistake.

“Uhh...Donut Lord. I think this might be for a different address? Or for a different Tom that weirdly has the same first and last name, but then has this weird kind of....other first name?” Tom laughed at Sonic’s naïvety.  
“That’s just my middle name, dude” he snatched the envelope from over Sonic’s head before the kid got anywhere near his bank info. He couldn’t lose another $20 to Fornite. Not again.

Sonic’s frowned at Tom’s stealth.Usually he was the fastest, but he’d been so engrossed in the ‘Michael’ between Tom and Wachowski that he’d been thrown off his regular speedy rhythm. 

He dashed to the arm of the couch before Tom sat down. He sat innocently swinging his legs over the side, eyes wide with enthusiasm. He’d never heard of middle names from normal people before. Occasionally action heros in a few of his favourite films claimed to have the middle name ‘danger’, but he figured that was just a saying. There were tons of weird sayings.

“Do I have a middle name too?” Sonic asked.  
Tom shrugged “Maybe. Did anyone give one to you? Longclaw?”  
Sonic sank in on himself after hearing her name. Tom and Maddie had been encouraging talking about her, saying it was important to process grief rather than pretend it never happened. It had been working, but it was always hard.

“No. Maybe? I don’t know! I can’t remember!”  
Tom noted his shift in energy and stroked his back a little. It was important not to push him too much, and be there for him especially when it seemed overwhelming.  
“Perhaps we could give you one? That’s usually what happens, the parents choose. Maddie and I sorta count as your parents, right?” He winked, Sonic brightened up upon hearing this and giggled.  
“Yeah!” he ran around the room in excitement, apparing in several places at once, “Where’s Maddie?! She has to help us!”  
Tom rolled his eyes at Sonic’s hyperactivity, but it was nice seeing him upbeat again.  
“She’ll be back in a couple of hours! Chill! And you’ve got baseball practice in an hour anyway so you better get ready!”  
Sonic gasped as he remembered “Yesyesyesyes yes!! I can ask Hilda what her middle name is and maybe she can help!” He dashed upstairs to grab his stuff.

...

“Hmm...yeah. Middle names are tough to choose” Hilda said as she sat on the sidelines next to Sonic. They always sat together under the benches when it wasn’t their turns. This wasn’t allowed, but coach barely noticed, and when he did Sonic would just run out before anyone fully acknowledged his absence and do something outlandish and weird so everyone would be too distracted to notice.

“I heard parents give them?” Sonic added, slightly confused.  
Hilda was drawing in the dust with a stick.  
“Yeah, well. I chose mine. I didn’t like the ones my folks gave me. It felt gross”  
“Wait, you can chose your own name? That’s awesome!” Sonic belted, a little too loudly.  
Hilda giggled “Of course! If you don’t like your name you can just pick a new one! You have to live with it so....do what you want!”  
“Awesome! I like my name though, I wouldn’t change it, but it’s nice that that’s an option. I always feel bad for people called Nigel”  
Hilda raised an eyebrow and laughed.  
“We should think of some right now! Start with things you like, like movies and stuff”  
Sonic paused, thinking really hard about it, before saying “I like Kianu Reeves movies....but Sonic Kianu doesn’t sound very catchy”  
Hilda nodded affirmativly “what about...Maurice” she snorted.  
Sonic physically reeled in disgust “You’re kidding? For real? No way! Sonic Maurice Wachowski sounds like the stupidest name in the world” Hilda was in fits of laughter, it was infectious.

Suddenly the whistle blew, the laughter was ended abruptly by Coach questioning their absence.  
“Hey, where’s Sonic and Hilda?”  
Sonic sped into his view just as he started scouring the pitch with his piercing gaze.

“All good here Coach! Nothing to worry about or see or anything, just my sick dance moves!” He started aggressively flossing, the fellow players all shuddered in second hand embarrassment, but Sonic didn’t mind. Hell, he actually enjoyed it. The other boys were so nasty to him and Hilda, why not make them all cringe?

Coach rolled his eyes, and blew the whistle. Sonic was up.

As soon as the ball hit the bat, Sonic zoomed around the pitch before the ‘wack’ hit anyone’s ears. Arriving back where he was with a joyful leap of victorious energy.  
“Oh yeah baby! Rollin’ around at the speed of sound! That’s how we do it!!” He dabbed. The others teammates cringed. It was a beautiful cycle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is sort of weird and messy idk Sonic is a grumpy teenager full of existentialism and i mean who isnt. I also needed an excuse to make Hilda being danish a plot devise so yeah there’s some bad danish in here. Sorry to all actual danes for my horrible language skills i do try

Maddie sat back on the coach looking up at the ceiling, her face scrunched intensely. Tom and Sonic waited anxiously for her suggestion. Every time she opened her mouth, she’d close it and plaster that look on her face again.

“Maddie, you’re killin’ us” Tom sighed. He could almost see the thoughts in her head, she’d probably come up hundreds of really good names that would suit their son wonderfully, but second guessing. Always the second guessing. But that meant she was careful and considerate, one of the many reasons he loved her.

Sonic was on the edge of his seat, the most patient either of them had ever seen him.  
Maybe that’s why Maddie felt so under pressure, Tom thought.

Maddie opened her mouth one more, and Sonic’s eyes widened in anticipation. “Yes!” he whispered.

“Speed” she finally said, completely deadpan.

Sonic and Tom’s faces dropped in confusion. 

“Speed? Sonic....Speed?” Tom huffed.  
“Hey!” Sonic shrugged, t hard to tell if he was putting on a supportive front “That’s pretty cool!” He lept around the room, landing close to where Maddie sat.  
“Speed. I am speed” he appeared again near the archway “faster than fast! Quicker than quick! I am-“

“Okay. Definitely not.” Tom interrupted, putting a stop to his the kid’s epic Cars monologue.  
Maddie giggled. “I’m just messing with you! What names do you like Sonic?”  
Sonic bit his lip uncertainly.  
“I don’t know! I like all names! I just want one that fits me, you know!” He stressed, flopping backwards into the coach again.  
Maddie nodded in agreement “yeah it can’t be something too...normal. Your first name is Sonic, you’re a small blue hedgehog. Names like ‘Adam’ simply will not cut it”

“I got you. It has to be fun. Really pop” Tom agreed. Sonic Wachowski. Sonic Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog  
“The” he said out loud, completely by accident.

“I’m sorry, what?” Maddie frowned, wondering if she heard him correctly.  
“Sonic ‘The Hedgehog’ Wachowski” Tom repeated, realising it sounded super dumb.  
Sonic sat up and stared at Tom who had a cushion on his lap. “No way. That’s what they call me at practice. Or- one of the things” he sighed.

Maddie gave Sonic a concerned glance. He hadn’t said much about the boys at practice, but she’d noticed he didn’t hang out with them so much. “When’s he pizza getting here I was starrrving” he wined, changing the topic. Maddie got up and ruffled his fur.  
“In a minute, be patient!” she made her way to the kitchen to get plates ready.  
“Be patient? But I’m horrible at that!” He lept onto the counter. Maddie had banned him from doing this multiple times, but it was always in vein. Sonic had way too much energy to use to put any section of the house off limits. But now that she saw him as more of a son, rather than a weird animal, it didn’t bother her as much. It was sweet how he could sit there and watch in awe as she made morning power smoothies with cool new ingredients everyday. He’d always mimic the blender in a goofy but charming way.

“I know” she pouted, teasing him. He smiled. The doorbell rang.

“Yes!” Sonic lept upand dashed to the door opening it wide letting in a rush of autumn wind.  
“Wachowski” the delivery boy said in a monotonous, ‘i’d rather be drinking mountain dew, eating cheeto puffs, and playing COD with my online friend that i met on surprisingly pleasant wholesome reddit groups,’ voice. Sonic beamed as Tom went to get his wallet.  
“That’s us!” He chirped. The kid looked down at Sonic, and didn’t react. He got paid $3 an hour, he simply didn’t have the energy to be surprised with little blue spiky aliens, he’d dealt with middle aged white women with blonde bobs swearing at him over full sugar pepsi mix ups. He was a broken man at the tender age of 19.

“Hey, weird question, but do you have a middle name?” Sonic asked anxiously.  
The boy raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh man. This literal alien wants to know exclusively my middle name. That’s not concerning at all” he replied, seeming to stare right through Sonic.  
Sonic laughed nervously “No! No no! You see! That’s sort of the thing, I’m relatively new to this whole being a part of human society thing, and I need a middle name and I can’t think of one so I’m just asking pe-“  
Tom cut in front of Sonic and handed the guy a couple of notes.  
“Keep the change” he smiled. The guy nodded, and started to walk down back the driveway.  
Sonic sank a little.

The delivery boy counted the tip as he dragged his heels in the gavel. Suddenly he shouted back abruptly “Pendleton!” Sonic’s ears priked up and he grinned.  
“Pendleton! That’s awesome!”  
“Yeah it’s kinda sick. Good luck with your name search little dude! Have a great night!” He waved. Sonic waved back with eight times more enthusiasm  
“You too! Hope you get loads of tips and no one is mean to you and you get a good night sleep and-“ Tom put his hand on Sonic’s shoulder to signal he was going in a bit, Sonic acknowledged it “and have a good night!” He finished, and closed the door.

Maddie was already dishing out the pizza onto plates. That was her condition. Greasy Friday take out as long as they ate it in a somewhat sophisticated manner.

Sonic watched.  
“What abouuuuut...OLIVE!” He gasped, observing the toppings of the pizza.  
Maddie hummed. “Well, Olive is usually a girl’s name but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Sonic Olive? Hmm,”  
Tom shuddered and gave his two cents “Not happening. You’re forgetting the Olive Garden incident already?!”  
Maddie gritted her teeth as she remembered that awful weekend where they’d decided to finally use the Olive Garden gift card given to them by the government as ‘compensation’, and all come down with a nasty case of food poisoning from the highly regarded ‘never ending pasta bowl’.  
Sonic shuddered as they collectively recalled that terrible day. More like, ‘never again pasta bowl’.

Maddie set the plates on the table as Tom grabbed the soda from the fridge, and a beer each for him and Maddie. 

“Oh! What about Pepper!” Sonic suggested, continuing the theme of pizza topping inspired names. Tom considered it, Pepper did suit his personality.  
“Again, typically given to girls but I think it’s pretty cool either way” Tom said, pouring a glass of Pepsi for Sonic. The hedgehog looked happy, then immediately switched and sank low, resting his head in his hands.  
“No! It all sounds stupid!” He sighed. Maddie and Tom exchanged empathetic glances.  
“Hey, you’ll think of something! And when you do find the one, I’m sure it’ll be amazing!” Maddie said.  
Tom nodded “and besides, not everyone has a middle name. Maddie doesn’t”  
Sonic looked up and gave a meek smile. “I guess” he said.  
....  
“Sonic! You won’t believe this! I managed to dig up a baby naming book! Must have been my mom’s from when she was pregnant” Hilda called down the phone.  
“Oh!” Sonic replied. Finally he could get somewhere.  
“Let’s see. I think we should start from S, a little sibelance never hurt nobody!” Sonic heard her flick through the pages over the speaker.  
“Sebastian” she said, uneasily.  
“Sonic Sebastian? Are you serious?”  
“I think it’s cute!”  
“You think everything’s cute! You thought the chips we found scattered under the benches yesterday were cute!” He stressed.  
“They sorta looked like a rabbit” Hilda protested “anyway. What about Sejner? I’ve never met anyone with that name before, not even when I lived in Denmark. The would be pretty unique!” She suggested. Sonic hung upside down on his bed.  
“My name is already unique! Did you meet anyone in Denmark called Sonic?”  
“No, but I guess, like, ‘søn ikke’ sounds similar” Hilda joked, forgetting for a moment that Sonic would not understand.  
“Is that a name?”  
“No. Just means like, ‘son don’t’” she laughed. Sonic melted onto the floor gradually in despair ”Hilda!”  
“Søn ikke” she repeated “like, you could say....’Tom’s søn er ikke menneske’”  
The words went into one ear and out the other. He hummed thoughtfully and gave it his best shot, “Sun igge-?” he said doubtfully.  
Hilda kept laughing “Nearly! You’re close!”

Sonic had been so excited when he found out Hilda was from another country, and even more impressed when he found out she could fit 2 entire languages in her brain, that he’d been eager to get on her level. She was more than happy to teach him, claiming it made her feel smart and it was nice to have an reason to speak her native language sometimes.

But for Sonic, it turned out that learning new languages was hard. Really hard. Even some letters were different. It was like everything he learned on for 10 years earth was almost nothing. He knew the world was big, but not THAT big. There was so much he had to learn, and so much he never would. Even if he mastered two languages, there were still 6498 he never would. The concept was utterly exhilarating and overwhelming and terrifying all at once.

Sonic let out yet another angsty adolescent whine “I’m never gonna find the perfect one!” He splayed his limbs on the floor.  
“Well, how long have you been searching? Two days? Come on, dude! You’ll find one, but if you don’t that’s fine too!” She assured him.  
Emotions were confusing sometimes. Sonic felt simultaneously really sad but also really angry and frustrated. He thought this middle name adventure would be fun but it just wasn’t anymore. It hurt something in his soul that he struggled to find the words for.  
“Nothing feels right, ya know? Like, I’m not a human, human names don’t fit me” he finally said after a prolonged silence.  
“Do you...wish you were?” Hilda asked cautiously, not wanting to pressure him into delicate territory.  
“No, I’m fine as I am, I just wish they got me, and I got them. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. I love being myself but I don’t think everyone else likes me being myself, but I can’t change that. I’m completely powerless”  
Hilda was quiet for a minute. What he was saying was all too familiar to her, except of course, she wasn’t a literal alien from space.  
“Hey, I get you. Sorta. Like, when I finally felt safe enough to be myself, so many people weren’t okay with that. My parents lost friends just because they supported me. If people can’t accept you, that says more about them than it does about you. You don’t have to change yourself or act differently to conform and make everyone a bit more comfortable. It’s your life. Do what you want”  
Sonic took in what she said, it hit him deeply, unearthed some feelings he’d have to explore further.  
“Thanks” he whispered.  
“And hey! You’re literally faster than the speed of sound and defeated an evil scientist, that doesn’t sound very powerless to me!”  
Sonic laughed “I guess. Thanks for being there for me” he smiled.  
“Thank YOU!” Hilda exclaimed.


End file.
